1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a retaining device, and more particularly to a retaining device for a detachable drawer track.
2. Description of Related Art
A conventional retaining device for a drawer track in accordance with the prior shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 comprises a track (60), a rail (70) slidably mounted in the track (60) and a retaining plate (90) attached to the rail (70). The conventional track further comprises a bearing (80) mounted between the track (60) and the rail (70) to make the rail (70) slide more easily in the track (60).
The track (60) is U-shaped and has two sidewalls (61) with a guide (63) defined in each sidewall (61). The two guides (63) are formed on opposite sides of each sidewall (61). A limit notch (66) is formed on one end of the track (60) and a limit plate (64) extend perpendicular to the track (60) from the other end. The track (60) has multiple holes (65) defined in the bottom to allow the track (60) to be attached to a piece of furniture (not shown) by a screw (not shown) or a rivet (not shown).
The rail (70) is U-shaped and has two wings (72) with a sliding groove (74) defined in each wing (72). The sliding grooves (74) correspond to and align with the guides (63) in the track (60). The rail (70) has multiple holes (76) defined in the bottom to allow the rail (70) to be attached to a drawer (not shown).
The bearing (80) is U-shaped and has two sets of races (82) each received between the guide (63) in the track (60) and the sliding groove (74) in the rail (70). Multiple cavities (84) are defined in each of the races (82) to hold ball bearings (85) and allow the rail (70) to slide more easily in the track (60).
The retaining plate (90) is flexible. The first end (91) of the retaining plate (90) nearest to the limit plate (64) is attached to the track (60), and a lever (93) is formed on the second end (92). A square hole (94) is defined in the lever (93) to receive the limit notch (66) and lock the rail (70) with the track (70) in a fixed position. The lever (93) must be pressed to release the square hole (94) from the limit notch (66) so the drawer with rail (70) can be pushed back or be drawn out completely and removed.
The conventional retaining device for a detachable drawer track keeps a drawer from inadvertently sliding completely out, yet allows the drawer to be removed when desired. However, it still has several disadvantages.
1. It presents a safety hazard. Whatever a user wants to push the drawer back or detach the drawer, he must press the lever (93) of the retaining plate (90). However, the retaining plate (90) always is a thin metal plate and formed by molding press so the edge thereof is very rough and sharpe like a knife. Consequently, if a user is careless when pressing the retaining plate (90), his fingers are easily injured.
2. It is not very convenient. The conventional retaining device track (60) only has a limit notch (66) formed on one end. Consequently, the drawer often rebounds and extends again for some reason after being pushed in. It is not very convenient and sometimes a user may bump or hit the extended drawer.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the disadvantages of the conventional retaining device for a detachable drawer track.